While everyone is settling into Autumn and reluctantly getting out their jumpers and raincoats, our mind is only thinking of one thing… Halloween! From the pumpkin-carvings to the spooky and strong cocktails your roommate decides to make every year, tis the season to be scary. Of course, what better way to prepare yourself for it all, than spending your nights cuddling in and watching some of the best and scariest movies on Netflix.
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Expert Tip: We recommend watching all these movies with a cute someone, from that shy co-worker of yours to your best friend! You also get bonus points, if you watch in Bat-printed Pjs while eating chocolate.
1.Gerald’s Game, 2017
Start your September with a little Stephan King, through Gerald’s Game. The underrated movie is a mix of thriller and horror, with the classic edgy pace of King’s writing perfectly translated to film.
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It tells the story of a woman who finds herself handcuffed to her bed, next to her dead husband after their attempt at spicing up their – you know what life. This all turns 50 Shades of Bizarre and leads to visions, clowns, dogs and much more.
2. Hush, 2016
The premise of Hush is a unique one, It starts like any other film featuring our heroine living in the middle of a forest, alone. The big guideline to the story is that she is deaf and mute but no damsel in distress, when one normal weekday, a masked intruder appears at her window.
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What follows is a fast-paced horror film, that will have you clutching your blanket and gasping in shock. We not only love the storyline of this movie but also have to praise the non-stereotypical portrayal of a young hearing-disabled person.
3. The Boy, 2016
Get ready to get the heebies jeebies, especially if you dislike dolls. Unlike, the big-budgeted Anabelle series The Boy, is a slow-paced and story-driven horror film which will have you confused, excited and above all, scared.
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It follows the story of a young American woman who is hired by a British couple to be a live-in nanny for their son. The house has the quintessential old abandoned manor vibes but the story takes off when the nanny quickly discovers their “child” is a doll- whom they treat as a human.
4. The Witch, 2016
It seems like 2016 was a good year to make Netflix/horror movies. Set in 1630 New England, The Witch follows a family turned hysterical after their youngest son goes missing.
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Being set in the Salem era, naturally, they blame their oldest daughter of witchcraft! While most horror films are unrealistic, this one feels eerily familiar. Somehow, we can imagine that this must have happened to some poor girl and feels more like a biography, rather than fantasy, which only just adds to its horrific atmosphere.
5. Bird Box, 2018
With a storyline that is suspiciously inspired by A Quiet Place only switching the “can’t make a sound” gimmick with “can’t see anything”. Birdbox was one of the first, Netflix produced films to feature a megastar like Sandra Bullock and we have to say, her talent is not wasted here.
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You meet Malorie, five years after with just a single glance, a mysterious force makes people commit suicide. Sandra Bullock spends much of the movie travelling around the USA, blindfolded and struggling for survival.
6. The Silence of the Lambs, 1991
No list of horror films is complete without the addition of this classic. This oscar-winning movie is turning 28 years old in 2019 yet even looking at the cover picture, gives us the chills.
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It follows an FBI agent in training (Jodie Foster) as she goes head to head with Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who happens to casually like eating humans in search of their insight.
7.Carrie, 1976
How many renditions of Carrie have we seen by now? Probably hundreds but as usual, the 1976 version is by far our favourite and one which we rewatch, every year. Not only that, we keep finding hidden nuance with every watch.
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We all know the story of a shy and sensitive teenager Carrie who is tortured both in her school life and at home but then she discovers she has supernatural powers and everything changes.
8.The Babadook, 2014
Following the basic horror troupe of “child sees a monster, yet no one believes him”, The Babadook isn’t groundbreaking but that doesn’t mean it won’t chill you to the bone and give you nightmares for weeks on end.
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The Australian psychological horror follows a single mother who is plagued by the violent death of her husband while also having to battle her son’s fear of a monster lurking in the house.
9. Green Room, 2015
The only way to fully describe our sentiment towards Green Room is through this one comment by Rolling Stone, reviewer Peter Travers, “Green Room means business, the nastiest kind. You’ve been warned”
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While a box office failure, the movie has developed a cult following ever since it was added to Netflix. The story follows a punk band who gets trapped in an isolated club once they witness a scene of violence.
10. The Autopsy Of Jane Doe
This film has the same vibe as The Blair Witch Project while still being drastically unique and with plenty of gruesome details, jump scares and an ever foreboding sense of dread. We recommend saving this one for date night and spending is scared and cuddled in with your partner.
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A small-town coroner and his son perform what they believe is a routine autopsy on an unidentified female body. Once the exam begins, the corpse begins to reveal an increasingly disturbing series of secrets.
11. The Invitation, 2015
Would you ever go to your ex’s house party? If you answered yes to this then you might have to rethink your answer after you watch The Invitation. The movie is a slow burn which takes you on a journey, albeit a bit weird one.
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The intelligent thriller follows a man, (Logan Marshall-Green) who starts to believe that his ex-wife (Tammy Blanchard) and her new husband (Michiel Huisman) have sinister plans for the guests and spoiler alert, his instincts are well placed!
12. EMELIE, 2015
Parents beware! This movie might just be your worst nightmare. A seemingly normal couple find a normal babysitter for a normal night out but once the parents leave, nothing stays normal and everything goes wrong.
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Trapped in the house with a psychotic babysitter, Emelie truly pushes the boundaries by showing children being systematically picked on by an adult. You will end up feeling uneasy, uncomfortable and unable to forget this horror film.
13. Scream, 1996
Everyone from a millennial to baby boomers to Gen Zers, need to watch this movie and if you have already seen in it your younger years, now is the perfect time for a rewatch. This movie ushered in a new era which changed our expectations for horror films.
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You will spend the entirety of the movie following a group of teens trying to save themselves from every scary movie troupe but even with all the expected turns and twists, it is a must-watch to prepare yourself for Halloween.
14. The Sixth Sense, 1999
No other movie fully expresses the unique, jarring and intelligent M. Night Shyamalan better than The Sixth Sense. Not only did this movie become a pinnacle of box office success for his career but also created a whole new genre of horror.
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We particularly love the subdued performance of the main actor, which might have to be one of the best we have seen to date. In our humble opinion, sometimes the whispers are far more goosebump-inducing rather than the dramatic over-the-top screams.
15. Train To Busan, 2016
Who doesn’t love a good zombie movie, especially when preparing for Halloween? Train To Busan is set in a zombie-infested world where a workaholic father and his daughter try to find safety.
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Much like the name suggests, they try to find it on a train to Busan but as all zombie movies go something and everything goes wrong. Will this father-daughter duo make it or will they become another zombie costume for you to try out for next year? Watch the movie on Netflix and see for yourself.
16. The Conjuring, 2013
What makes The Conjuring movies captivating, intriguing and intensely horrific are not all the planned and anticipated jump scares but the fact that this film is based on true events, Following the real-life exploits of paranormal ghost hunters the Warrens.
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While many have debated this and expressed that the film is just a gross over-exaggeration of the real events and nothing more than Hollywood’s take on a somewhat tame story. Either way, we believe that The Conjuring is a great horror flick and one, which is a must-watch.
17.Poltergeist, 1982
Many Millenials might not remember this movie but it may have given our parents one or two sleepless nights! Written by Steven Spielberg, it is a classic worth many rewatches but no matter what happens, do not watch the 2015 remake.
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The story starts when ghosts start talking to a family through their television, the Freelings are at first excited- we are not even sure, why? Until the messages take a menacing turn that promises to wreck the family.
18. The Mist, 2007
Foggy September might just be the perfect time to watch this movie, which is yet another Stephen King adaptation. The Mist follows the members of a town in Maine who wind up in a supermarket after a massive thunderstorm.
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Only, of course, the thunderstorm is followed by a creeping fog which means death for anything and anyone who ventures inside of it. What is hiding in The Mist and when will it stop? And above all, who will survive till the end?
19. The Village, 2004
Another M.Night Shyamalan movie, which follows a never-seen-before storyline of an Amish man who decides to risk it all in search of medicine for the love of his life. He travels through the “forbidden” forest which, according to folklore, is inhibited by dangerous creatures, waiting for their next victims.
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Much like all of his other films, the pacing is sharp, unexpected and exciting with twists and turns thrown in at every point in the film. Expect to pause, many a time to have to discuss the storyline, with never fully knowing how it will all end.
20. Coraline
The last entry in our list leans towards the rarer sides of horror films, a stop motion animation film which despite its initial imagery is very much a scary movie and is not meant for children.
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We follow Caroline, as she stumbles upon an alternate reality where she gets to hide away from her dismissive parents to explore a world full of warmth and imagination but of course, everything does go wrong with a demon or two to blame for it all.